KARACHI, Feb 27: The search and rescue teams failed on Thursday to recover any body from the wreckage of the Cessna aircraft, which was located 30 metres down the open sea on Wednesday, some 40-45 nautical miles from here.
However, the fuselage comprising the aircraft’s engine and two complete wings of the aircraft had been recovered by divers of the navy’s search teams, Commander Roshan Khayal of the ISPR (Pakistan Navy) told Dawn.
He said despite hectic efforts by the search and rescue teams, no human remains were found during the day-long operation on Thursday.
The search and rescue teams would make another effort on Friday after which the search operations might be given up, he added.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines and Industries, Juma Mohammed Mohammedi, and seven others were killed on Monday when a chartered Cessna aircraft, bound for the Juzzak airfield near Saindak in Balochistan, crashed in the Arabian Sea, some 56 kilometre west of Karachi.
There were no survivors and Pakistan Navy rescue teams recovered at least five bodies from the sea. Three bodies are still untraced and the navy teams have been searching for the remaining bodies.
The Pakistan Navy ship, PNS Munsf, located the wreckage of the Cessna aircraft just before sunset on Wednesday.
The Cessna, which was chartered by the Star Aviation from the Edhi air ambulance for a Chinese firm, Metallurgic Construction Company Resource Development, had left Karachi airport at 8:10am for the Juzzak airfield with eight persons on board — five Afghans, one Chinese and two Pakistanis — including the pilot.
The aircraft was flying at an altitude of 9,000 feet when it suddenly plunged into the sea, 56km (30 nautical miles) west of Karachi, losing contact with the air traffic control, sources said.
The cause of the crash was not yet known, they added.
